Monday, February 25, 2019

Mines of Moria - Middle Earth SBG Scenarios

As I have everything painted in order to support my Mines of Moria scenarios, I'm getting them written down here for my own sanity --- and of course to share with all of you who may be interested. I'm currently in the process of switching all my Goblins and Fellowship models (I have many) over to clear plastic bases.

Below I have three scenarios that represent the flight of the Fellowship of the Ring through the Mines of Moria - which are a little different from previous incarnations from the various LOTR source books from Games Workshop. My goal here from a terrain perspective is to have something that looks great, but is fairly easy to store and create. I'll be heavily using foam to create my terrain for this (look for a separate post on that).

Dungeon Mat from Deep Cut Studio

The "base" of the tabletop will be the Dungeon mat (mouse pad) from Deep Cut Studio (https://www.deepcutstudio.com/product/game-mat-dungeon/). I ordered the 4 foot by 4 foot mat for this. For my smaller scenarios, I will use a black felt mat to lay over the dungeon mat to help keep the smaller areas defined (rather than ordering additional mats).

Scenarios are below, in order:

Balin's Tomb

Escape from Darrowdelf

Bridge at Khazad Dum

Balin's Tomb

This is a classic LOTR scenario. I've taken a slightly different direction on it here. The Fellowship greatly out classes the Goblin's in this case. The intention is to limit the Goblin reinforcements and force the fellowship to destroy the entire Goblin force - before fleeing the tomb (and proceeding to the Escape from Darrowdelf scenario).

SCENARIO MAP & SPECIAL RULES
Below is the scenario map showing a 2 foot by 3 foot table. Balin's tomb is 2 feet square. The tomb is located in the center. The dark grey shows the 2" raised around surrounding the tomb. The 4 black squares are pillars, the the black circle is the well. Stairs to the raised level are located to the left and right of the gate into the tomb.

Scenario Map

Good Force Starting Positions: Gimli starts on top of Balin's tomb. Both Aragorn and Boromir start at the gate into the tomb (within 3"). Gandalf, Legolas, and all the hobbits start the game deployed within 6" of Balin's tomb.

Evil Force Entry: Evil groups move onto the board from the table edge denoted on the map. On turn 1, evil group 1 enters the game. On turn 2, evil group 2 enters the game. On turn three, evil group 3 enters the game.

Evil Force Reinforcements: Before starting the game, the evil player rolls 1D3+1. This is the number of reinforcement groups that will come into the game. Use a die or other marker to keep track of this number. On any turn from 4 onward, if there are 12 goblin casualties, a reinforcement group forms on the 12 Goblins using whatever armaments they consist of (what you see is what you get - WYSIWYG). When a reinforcement group enters the table, reduce the die/counter that is keeping track of the number of reinforcement groups. Note the Cave Troll does not re-enter if it is slain.

Favoured of the Valar: At the start of the game, the good player rolls 1D3. Record the result. This is the number of rerolls available to the good player for the duration of the game (separate from any other special rules, etc.). These "Valar" rerolls can be used to reroll any single D6 rolled by the good player in the game at any time. They can even be used to reroll an already rerolled die. When a reroll is used, reduce the number on the Valar reroll die by one. Once they are gone they cannot be restored in any way. Heroes may use Might points to adjust the results normally.

End of Game: The game ends in an evil victory at the end of a turn where the Fellowship has suffered a casualty (as this would significantly change the course of events in Middle Earth). The game ends in a good victory if at the end of any turn there are no evil models left on the table (even if reinforcement groups remain), or once all Goblin forces (groups 1-3 + reinforcements) have been killed.

Escape from Darrowdelf

Below is the scenario map showing a 2 foot by 4 foot table. The "stairs" start at 8" high, decreasing by 1" at each turn. Each connection point between two lengths of stairs has a staircase and a column of rocks for support. This is important because "case dwellers" can climb these rocks up onto the staircase. The left side black area is a rock wall with a central cave opening (no door).

Scenario Map

Good Force Starting Positions: The fellowship starts the game on the first length of staircase (8"), being deployed within 8" of the table edge (if a little more space is needed it can be taken). The fellowship should form a single model wide column along the staircase.

Evil Force Entry: Evil groups move onto the board from the table edge denoted on the map. On turn 1, evil group 1 enters the game. On turn 2, evil group 2 enters the game. On turn three, evil group 3 enters the game.

Evil Force Reinforcements: The evil side has unlimited reinforcements for this scenario. On any turn from 4 onward, if there are 12 goblin casualties, a reinforcement group forms on the 12 Goblins using whatever armaments they consist of (what you see is what you get - WYSIWYG). Note the Cave Troll does not re-enter if it is slain.

Chasms: On a turn where the combined total rolled for both the evil and good side for priority equals 8 or higher, the evil side can place a single chasm marker on a span of the staircase (cannot be placed overlapping stairs between levels). Place a 2" wide black marker. This represents breaks in the staircase that must be leaped over in order to pass. The evil side may only place a maximum of 3 chasms during a single game.

Falling: While the staircase used is only 8" at it's highest point for practical game purposes, it only abstractly represents the staircases. The "real" (right, it is a fantasy setting, har har) staircases are much higher. Any model that falls from the edge of the staircases from 5" or higher automatically becomes a casualty. From 4" and lower, models suffer falling damage as normal.

Favoured of the Valar: At the start of the game, the good player rolls 1D3. Record the result. This is the number of rerolls available to the good player for the duration of the game (separate from any other special rules, etc.). These "Valar" rerolls can be used to reroll any single D6 rolled by the good player in the game at any time. They can even be used to reroll an already rerolled die. When a reroll is used, reduce the number on the Valar reroll die by one. Once they are gone they cannot be restored in any way. Heroes may use Might points to adjust the results normally.

End of Game: The game ends in an evil victory at the end of a turn where the Fellowship has suffered a casualty (as this would significantly change the course of events in Middle Earth). The game ends in a good victory once all fellowship models have exited the table through the cave opening denoted on the left side of the map.

Bridge at Khazad Dum

Below is the scenario map showing a 4 foot by 4 foot table. The chasm is placed between the 2' and 3' span as shown on the map. The chasm is a minimum of 6" wide and a maximum of 10" wide. The bridge is 12" long.

Scenario Map

Good Force Starting Positions: The fellowship is deployed within a 4" wide by 12" long area centered on the cave opening shown on the map.

Evil Force Entry: Evil groups move onto the board from the table edge denoted on the map. On turn 1, evil group 1 enters the game. On turn 2, evil group 2 enters the game. On turn three, evil group 3 enters the game.

Evil Force Reinforcements: The evil side has unlimited reinforcements for this scenario. On any turn from 4 onward, if there are 12 goblin casualties, a reinforcement group forms on the 12 Goblins using whatever armaments they consist of (what you see is what you get - WYSIWYG). Note the Balrog does not re-enter if it is slain.

Chasm: Any model that enters/falls into the chasm automatically becomes a casualty.

Bridge of Khazad Dum: When Gandalf is on the bridge he can use a Sorcerous Blast to attempt to break the bridge. The bridge has a Defence value of 10 with 3 Wounds. When the bridge has lost all of it's wounds, the area between the north edge and Gandalf's position is destroyed (mark with black paper to show it is now a chasm). Any models on the broken part of the bridge count as falling into the chasm (including the Balrog). If the Balrog falls into the chasm, the evil player rolls 1D6. On a 4-6, Gandalf falls into the chasm with the Balrog. On a 1-3, Gandalf escapes the grips of the Balrog and continues on with the fellowship (but how will he ever become Gandalf the White? Only the Valar know that ... perhaps he suffers a heart attack after eating some Lembas bread?). Gandalf falling into the chasm does not trigger the evil victory condition.

Rock Formations: Some rock formations are shown in dark grey. Such formations are impassable to the fellowship, but can be moved over by models with the "cave dweller" special rule.

Favoured of the Valar: At the start of the game, the good player rolls 1D3. Record the result. This is the number of rerolls available to the good player for the duration of the game (separate from any other special rules, etc.). These "Valar" rerolls can be used to reroll any single D6 rolled by the good player in the game at any time. They can even be used to reroll an already rerolled die. When a reroll is used, reduce the number on the Valar reroll die by one. Once they are gone they cannot be restored in any way. Heroes may use Might points to adjust the results normally.

End of Game: The game ends in an evil victory at the end of a turn where the Fellowship has suffered a casualty (as this would significantly change the course of events in Middle Earth). The only exception to this rule is if the Balrog causes Gandalf to fall into the chasm, in which case this does not automatically end the game. The game ends in a good victory once all fellowship models (excluding Gandalf if pulled into the chasm by the Balrog) have exited the table through the corner of the table as shown on the lower left side of the map.

This is awesome. I am currently painting Dark Elf Blood Bowl team and listening to the third book on audible. Frodo and Sam just got plucked off the mountain by the eagles. Any ways, I just had this fantastic idea! You need to find a cave, to set up your under the mountain scenarios to play in. I mean everything is about the mood.... right?

Thanks Kevin! LOL - I think the boys might wonder why I'm trying to lure them into a dark cave for a "fun game" we'll play ;-) The mood is everything ... funny enough, I was thinking of using blue/black lighting during the game at home :-)